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Silverton Fine Arts Festival poster unveiled

The original artwork for the 2014 Silverton Fine Arts Festival was done by Brian Bloss. Print and other embellishment were added by Tavis Betolli-Lotten for the final poster.(Photo: Timm Collins / Appeal Tribune)Buy Photo

Through the teamwork of a talented artist and event organizers, the 14th Annual Silverton Fine Arts Festival developed the artwork that was unveiled last week to promote the much awaited summer arts event.

Once the festival posters and t-shirts are available to the public, the image of Silver Falls under an artist's paintbrush will be seen by thousands throughout the Willamette Valley. The Silverton Arts Association hired artist Brian Bloss to create the artwork .

"We first started to see Brian's work in some shows we had (at the Silverton Arts Association.) He was part of a plein aire group and one of last year's vendors at the festival," said Stacy Higby, Silverton Arts Association education coordinator and member of the festival's poster committee.

Though the association has held a poster contest in past years, this year they decided to hire an artist to ensure they would be able to give some direction to the piece. "He was on our short list of artists. …It was important to give a young artist some exposure, someone whose artwork had not been seen a lot in the community," Higby said.

Festival visitors will certainly see his poster artwork throughout the event, but they can also see more at his vendor booth, which he received as partial payment for his poster design. That space has a $200 value.

Dwight Berning remembers seeing the first draft of Bloss's festival design. "It was more of a dark piece. …For the art festival, it needed to be more lively," said Berning, who is the association vice president and co-chair of this year's festival.

"He brightened it up with more colors and when I saw what he did, I was overwhelmed, impressed. It has good artistic quality that looks good on t-shirts and on posters and the website," Berning said.

"I like that he used Silver Creek Falls," he added, which makes the art particularly relevant to Silverton.

Bloss didn't mind the input.

"When you have clients, you have to realize that you are making their vision come true a bit, too. I am pretty happy with how it turned out," Bloss said.

Berning agreed, adding, "It was a good compromise."

A local illustrator, Tavis Betolli-Lotten, added his skills to the final image used on the poster and shirts. He combined Bloss's image of the Silver Falls and an artist's hand with the background colors and typeface used.

Because Bloss was hired as a commercial artist and the festival was paying for his services, Bloss took the committee comments to heart and visited Silver Falls, where he knew he would find local inspiration. After all, he said, it was Silverton's nearby landscape that brought him here from his Southern California home more than two years ago.

Bloss came to Silverton, he said, "To make art. …Silverton is an awesome place. I really like the landscape. I really like the people.

"I make all my monies through my art," he said. His art varies from a preferred medium of ink, but he also works with washed oils and extracting color from natural foliage.

"One of my goals is to make my own paint," he said while explaining how he is growing madder root in his yard for that purpose. "It's a three-year process, so it's a long-term goal."

He told how that plant was used for the red dye used in the wool coats worn by the British Army in the Revolutionary War. Hence, the red was plant-based in the most famous Red Coats in U.S. history.

He plans to infuse all colors into the art he will be selling at his booth during the festival, which last year drew more than 6,000 visitors.

All 80 artist and vendor booths have already sold, music has been scheduled and plans are set for children's art projects and artist demonstrations. There will also be a variety of food vendors and a beer and wine garden for festival attendees.